Skills shortages and under-investment threaten to restrict Black Country recovery warn business leaders
A SHORTAGE of skilled workers and a slowing rate of investment in equipment suggest that optimistic growth predictions are not being universally felt across the Black Country, the area’s business leaders have said.
The Alliance 4 the Black Country, an affiliation of Black Country professional services organisations, said it was concerned that companies were not increasing their training investment to address skills shortages, given the difficulties in recruiting trained people.
It also warned that while many firms were operating at peak capacity, new opportunities could be going begging because firms did not have the additional space necessary to compete for the orders.
The alliance was meeting at the Walsall campus of Wolverhampton University to discuss the findings of the latest Black Country Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey.
Johnathan Dudley, chair of the alliance and managing partner and head of manufacturing business at Crowe Clark Whitehill, said the survey was useful as it was a chance to influence key decision makers.
“This is the biggest private business survey in the UK and we know that The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, HM Treasury, The European Commission and The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) look at the results,” he said.
The survey found more than half (52%) of respondents believed that government initiatives made no difference to the level of exports.
“We have seen the removal of export tax credits from SMEs. More needs to be done to encourage Black Country manufacturers to enter the global market. We support tax credits for research and development but it is not just ideas and innovation we need to invest in, but also the actual manufacturing of world class products,” said Dudley.
Three quarters (76%) of those completing the QES said they felt government lending schemes such as Funding for Lending and the Enterprise Funding Guarantee Scheme had had no effect on levels of lending.
Alliance members also sounded a warning shot regarding the raising of the top tax rates, saying such action would actually shrink the economy.
Ninder Johal, president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said 71% of firms believed the Regional Growth Fund had had a positive effect on the local economy.
“We encourage local authorities to work closely with our businesses to develop the strategic business case for investment to raise productivity and to fuel exporting. The Black Country needs to be operating in the global market. Our products are the best. Let’s go out there and prove it,” he said.
